Mileven the funfair
by MilevenXoxo
Summary: Nancy and Jonathan are planning on going to the fair on a date. When El asks what the fair is, Nancy couldn't help but insist El and Mike tag along.
1. Mileven The Funfair Pt1

**A/N: Hey reader I'm sorry for the author's note before you've even started but I wanted to point out that this part is mainly an intro and therefore the second part is much better. Please make sure you read the whole story before you judge it, even if it's a little slow at first. Thank you so much and enjoy!**

_

A lot of time had passed since Eleven had returned from the upside down.

When Hopper had found her after almost a year of searching, collapsed on the ground in the woods with blood streaming from her nose, he felt he had no choice but to call Joyce. She had insisted on taking El under her wing, that she would protect her and try her best to give her the life she deserved. A life without abuse. A life with a Mother figure. A life with brothers to look up to. A life with an education. A life with friends.

And now here she was, in the front seat beside Jonathan in his car on their way to the Wheelers residence, with a strong sense of belonging.

She had come to think of Jonathan and Will as a brothers, just as Joyce had hoped. It made her feel warm inside to feel like she was part of a family. It had become a routine that Jonathan would often drop her and Will off to hang out with Mike and would then pick up Nancy at the same time to go on _"a date",_ as Jonathan had explained to El a while back.

El was starting to learn a lot more about language thanks to Jonathan and Joyce's home-taught lessons and the many nights she would watch Mike and the boys play dungeons dragons. She also liked asking lots of questions. She still didn't talk enough to be considered a normal amount, but she was getting better.

"Almost there kiddo." Jonathan said as he turned to El with a smile on his face. Will wasn't with her today, otherwise she'd be in the back seat listening to him talk about arcade games, science, DD or the boys. She always quite enjoyed it but he, and the other boys for that matter, had a lot of homework to catch up on. She promised to tell him about their night when she returns home. She smiled in reply to Jonathan before turning towards the window and watched the sun begin to set over Hawkins. It was a beautiful sight, it made the sky turn into a blazing orange and all the trees in sight became silhouettes.

Silhouettes used to scare El. They had reminded her a lot of the shadows that used to haunt her before, but after spending plenty of summer nights on bike rides with Mike she had learnt to embrace the beauty of them. She felt peaceful.

Another 10 minutes had passed by and they had finally reached the house. The sun had almost completely set. It had begun getting darker earlier now that it was reaching November.

Jonathan pressed a button on the radio, turning off the David Bowie song that was playing in the background. El took this as her cue to exit the car. She took off her seatbelt, fiddled with the cute blue shirt Nancy had bought her and exited the car at the same time as Jonathan. She then fiddled with her pixie hair a little as she walked next to Jonathan towards the doorstep. He grinned as he noticed what El was doing, but she was oblivious. Too focused on how she looked. He had noticed it had become a habit of hers to groom herself every time she was about to see Mike.

"El?" He said once they reached the doorstep. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her. She stopped fiddling with her hair and her big brown eyes stared up at his own.

"Yes" she replied, a curious look taking over her features. She realised they still hadn't pressed the doorbell yet and furrowed her brows a little.

Jonathan felt his heart warm a little as he looked at the innocent look on his sister's face.

"You look great the way you are okay? And Mike..." he smiled again, his hand leaving her shoulder as his other rung the doorbell, "...well, Mike would think you looked pretty no matter what." He turned and faced the door waiting for it to be answered.

El understood what he'd said, and it made her heart flutter. _Does Mike really think I'm pretty no matter what?_ She thought to herself. Jonathan caught her smiling down at the floor out the corner of his eye and he chuckled a little. Just then, the door opened and revealed Nancy.

El had always thought Nancy was the most pretty girl she'd ever seen, and seeing her now in a red jumper and a black and red polka-skirt only made her more sure of that. El turned to look at Jonathan who had an admiring smile on his face as he looked at Nancy. El could tell he thought she was pretty, because he looked at Nancy the way Mike looked at El.

Nancy bit her lip and blushed a little, noticing how Jonathan was staring at her. El was squealing on the inside for them. She thought they looked at each other the way Molly Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling looked at each other at the end of Sixteen Candles, that film Joyce loved so much. Nancy then turned her attention to El.

El smiled brightly as Nancy looked her up and down with a smile of her own.

"Wow missy, don't you look beautiful?" she giggled a little and gave El a playful wink.

"So do you". El replied, sending a small cute smile Nancy's way.

"Why thankyou, El." she laughed as she moved aside to let the two of them in, "I'll go fetch Mike from his room for you, I think he was finishing up some science homework. You know how into it he can get." she sniggered. El looked down at the floor with a smile curling the corners of her lips. She thought about how much she loved seeing the passion in Mike's eyes when he talked to her about science. It was the one topic El knew she could ask Mike about and he would be genuinely excited to explain every last detail. Just then a familiar voice and footfalls from the stairs interrupted her thoughts.

"I just finished my science work actually." All of them turned their attention to Mike, who was now walking towards them from the bottom of the stairs. His attention was fully on El. He had a sweet smile overtaking the features on his face and it made El's heart skip. "You look pretty. I mea...you...always look pretty." He blushed a little with an embarrassed smile on his face and scratched the back of his neck as he reached El's side. El thought of what Jonathan had said earlier, and what Mike had just said now and it made her blush too. She brushed her hand against his and Mike intertwined them. They both couldn't take their eyes off each other after that.

"Ahem!" Nancy remarked, a small smirk on her face. Jonathan chuckled as he stood beside her. El and Mike looked towards Nancy, but they didn't let go of each others hands. "You two lovebirds are on your own for a couple of hours until Dad gets back from picking up mum. There are some eggos ready made in the kitchen if you get hungry and there should be something good on TV if you get bored. If there's an emergency, get Will's attention over your Supercom and ask for Joyce. Got it?" She seemed in a rush to go somewhere.

"Wait, where are you two going that's so important you're leaving us here alone?" Mike questioned, raising an eyebrow at his sister. She looked towards Jonathan.

"Jonathan's taking me to the fair while it's in town." her face gleamed as her and Jonathan looked at one another. He reached for her hand and gripped onto it before looking back at Mike and El who were doing the same. El had a confused expression on her face though. She squeezed Mike's hand causing him to look at her.

"What is...the fair?" She asked Mike, her brows furrowed and her eyes searching his for an answer. Just as Mike was about to answer Nancy interjected.

"Woah, she's never been to the fair!?" she asked, a shocked tone and expression on her face until she remembered it was El she was talking about. Of course she's never been to the fair. A guilt feeling erupted throughout Nancy's chest. "Shit. I'm so sorry, that was insensitive of me." Mike was looking at Nancy with daggers and she chewed the inside of her cheek as the guilt grew. They both turned towards El and to their surprise she was completely unphased by it. She was just looking between the three of them awaiting an answer with a confused look on her face.

Mike smiled at her again and spoke up. "Basically it's this event that comes to Hawkins for 3 days twice a year. It's a place where you can eat lots of candy, donuts, hot dogs, candy floss..."

"Candy...floss?" El interrupted, an eyebrow raised at Mike in question. She wasn't too sure on the other foods either, but this sounded the most interesting.

"Oh, it's uh, it's like sugar that's whipped up really fast so it goes really fluffy...like a cloud. It melts in your mouth and tastes really sweet. It's nice." He nodded at El.

El's eyes lit up, she thought candy floss sounded great. She wished she could try it. Mike smiled wider at the cute look on her face before he continued explaining.

"...anyways, apart from the nice food there's also game stools set up where you can play lots of different things, like ring-toss and shoot-the-can. If you win you get a prize. It's usually a cuddly toy or something like that. And then the best bit about the fair is always the rides."

El was struggling to keep up, but from what she understood it sounded amazing. She wanted to ask Mike another question but she felt guilty nagging. She went for it anyway.

She squeezed Mikes hand once again. "Mike, what are the rid--"

"Look, perhaps it would be better if you two just tag along with us so El can see for herself?" Nancy interrupted. Jonathan turned to face her, he looked a little peeved.

"What?" He asked her, loosening his grip on her hand a little. She flashed him an apologetic look.

"Listen, I know this was meant to be a date but think about it. Could you really leave them here without feeling guilty that we let El miss out on the chance to experience the fair for the first time?"

"It'll be back next year Nancy, we've been planning this for ages." Jonathan tried his best to keep the anger out of his voice, he did feel bad leaving El and Mike alone. Especially knowing that El had never experienced the fair before. But this was supposed to be a date.

"First of all the next fair is ages away. Second of all, El and Mike are capable of looking after themselves now. Especially her. We don't have to spend every minute with them. We'll give them some spending money, go separate ways for a couple of hours then meet back at the car around 10pm. Then everyone's happy, right?" Nancy pleaded. Jonathan looked less peeved than before but he still looked uncertain. "Please Jonathan? I couldn't leave knowing we could have let El experience this."

El was biting her bottom lip as she watched the two of them debating. She didn't want to ruin their night, but from what Mike had described it sounded magical. She desperately wanted to see it. She turned to Mike. He was starting to look excited at the thought of going to the fair too. His eyes were going slightly wider and his brows raised awaiting the result of their conversation.

"Fine." They all heard Jonathan answer. El looked at Mike who was fist pumped the air with the hand El wasn't holding, causing her to giggle softly. Nancy sighed in relief and hugged Jonathan.

"Thank you." She said. He hugged her tightly back and eventually smiled before placing a delicate kiss on her forehead as they separated. Nancy wrote a note to explain what was happening for their Mum and Dad to see when they got back. Then she grabbed her Jacket, took Jonathan's hand once again and started to head towards the door. During that time Mike continued to explain the fair a bit more to El. Her eyes lit up more and more as he went on and a big smile brightened up her face, causing the dimples Mike loved so much to show up.

"Come on then you two!" Jonathan smiled over his shoulder as Nancy opened the door. Mike began walking towards it but El hesitated. He turned around to her feeling concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking a step backwards to be closer to her once again. El bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

"Can we...get the eggos first?" She asked with the most innocent look on her face. His heart started feeling fuzzy, a recurring sensation he had when he was around El. _How is she so damn cute?_ He thought to himself. He sniggered a little and El looked back up, trying to hide a smile herself.

"Sure I'll grab them. Go wait in the car, I'll be right there."

He let go of her her hand and El nodded at him, the smile completely taking over her face now. She headed outside into the fresh air, the autumn chill was slightly kicking in and she kind of wished she had a coat. Once she got inside the car though, she had such a strong feeling of excitement that she completely forgot about the chill she was feeling.

She watched out the window and giggled a little as Mike ran towards the car, eggos in his hand and his dark brown curly hair bouncing up and down with every step. Nancy and Jonathan saw El in the rear view mirror and shared a knowing glance. _They're adorable_ they both thought.

As Mike entered the car and took the seat next to El, Jonathan turned on the ignition and Nancy put in her Bruce Springsteen mixtape. They all set off to go to the fair and they were buzzing.

 ** _A/N: Sorry again for such a slow start. The second part is longer, MUCH cuter and just better overall. Anyway, I wanted to point out that I'm not American so I apologise if anything I write about isn't accurate in that sense (as ST is set in America). I'm just basing it off of funfairs in the UK and funfairs I've seen in American television and hopefully they're not too different._**

 ** _Thankyou for reading and please don't forget to vote/comment._**

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 ** _• finn_wolfhard_fan_xoxo_**


	2. Mileven The Funfair Pt2 (09-29 11:53:08)

The drive was just under half an hour. Nancy squealed as soon as she saw the rides and Jonathan beamed as he watched her do so. El couldn't say or do a thing. She was mesmerised.

He was parking just outside the fair as El was taking in all the flashing lights, noticing they contrasted beautifully with the evening sky. She watched the big machines and the crowds of happy people too. Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding with a mixture of nerves and excitement.

They all got out of the car and headed towards the entrance which was marked by a big "FUN FAIR" sign. Jonathan wrapped an arm around Nancy while Mike and El were holding hands once again, following behind. Nancy turned towards the two of them and took some cash out of her pocket.

"We've been saving for a while, but here. You can have $60 each." She held out the money towards Mike. He went to grab it but she didn't let go straight away.

"You owe us big time little bro." She stated, the serious look on her face slowly turning into a grin as she finally let him take the money. After both El and Mike thanked them, she grabbed Jonathan by the hand and practically ran through the entrance yelling, "Have fun you two!" over her shoulder.

Mike and El were now left alone holding hands by the entrance taking in the sight of the fair and he could feel her shaking.

"Are you scared?" He asked her. She looked up at Mike's big soft eyes and forgot where they were for a moment, like they made the rest of the world go dark. His voice brought back her attention once again.

"Don't worry, we don't have to go on anything you don't want to. I promise I'll stay with you and protect you." He nodded at her with a comforting smile on his lips.

"Mike, I'm not scared." she told him blinking as she mirrored his sweet smile.

"Oh. But...you're shaking." He stated, concern lacing his voice as they slowly walked through the entrance. El wrapped her other hand around the upper part of Mike's arm so that she was now hugging it and rested her head on his shoulder. He gazed down at her, waiting for an answer. Her short hair blew in the wind and the neon lights that surrounded them lit up El's eyes like there were fireworks in them. Her face was a vision and Mike knew he never had and never would see anything more beautiful in his life.

El could feel his eyes on her and she blushed, looking down at the grass beneath their feet.

"I'm just...A bit cold." She replied, biting her lip. She didn't want to spoil their fun but her arms were exposed and she couldn't hold back the shivers any longer. As soon as she'd told Mike he stopped in his tracks, right next to the ring-toss, and pulled away from El. She thought maybe he was disappointed and would say they should go back to the car. She didn't want that.

She looked up ready to argue, when she realised he was smirking and taking off his blue bomber jacket. Before she knew it, he had wrapped it around El's shoulders and started to hug her. He felt kinda silly for not realising she must have been cold sooner.

"You should have said before El, I could have given you a jacket at home." He said in a light tone, a hand stroking her back. El already felt much warmer, partly from the jacked and partly from the heat radiating off of him. She was frowning though, _if Mike gave me his jacket wouldn't he be cold?_ She thought to herself. As Mike began to pull away El shook her head.

"No Mike. You need it." She began to take off the jacket.

"El. I'm fine." He smiled and nodded, grabbing her hand and stopping her from removing the jacket, "I've already got a sweater on, I'm pretty sure you need this way more than I do. Besides, it's adorable when you wear my clothes." He grinned and El blushed, but she still felt a little unsure. _Is he just saying that to make me feel better?_ Mike clearly noticed she still felt unsure.

"El, I'm fine. I promise." He assured her and with that she relaxed, pulling the jacket tighter around her. She knew Mike would never break a promise. El gazed into his eyes and didn't ever want to look away as she watched the patterns of pink and purple lights glimmer in them, but suddenly a hoop in the air behind Mike caught her attention. Her eyebrows raised as she tried to understand what was going on. Mike noticed and looked behind him.

"Oh, that's the ring-toss. The game I was telling you about earlier." He explained.

She looked between the game and Mike curiously. She was intrigued. Mike pointed up at a massive cuddly bear that was hung up next to the game, "That's the big cuddly toy you win if you get a hoop around the red bottle."

Awe filled El's eyes and her mouth slightly parted. She wanted it...badly. Mike grabbed her by the hand and took the next few steps to lead her right up to the stool.

"One go for the lady please, good sir!" Mike asked in a joking voice, handing the man at the stool some money. El couldn't help but laugh and it made Mike feel proud. He loved it when she laughed at his jokes. She was starting to understand humour more and more after spending so much time with him and the boys.

The man handed El four red rings with a loud "Good luck!" leaving his mouth. She nodded at him with a slight smile before looking at the bottles in front of her. She tried to think about how much force she would need to make sure it landed perfectly over the red bottle. She squinted her eyes and poked the tip of her tongue out in concentration as she threw the first hoop. Mike smirked at how adorable it was to see her get so serious over a funfair game.

The ring had only just missed the red bottle and she frowned. I will not be defeated she thought. She tried again and again but she somehow missed each time by a tiny bit. She was now on her last hoop. She looked from Mike, to the bottles, then finally to the teddy. _I have to have it._ She told herself in determination. Maybe what she was about to do right now would be frowned upon, but nobody needed to know. Nobody except Mike. She closed her eyes and triggered her powers as she tossed the last hoop, making it perfectly land over the red bottle.

The man rung a loud bell and started clapping. "We have a winner!" he cheered. It made El feel bubbly inside. Mike looked at her with a fond expression, knowing she had cheated but adoring how happy she was right now. The man held out the big teddy for her and El was now face to face with its glossy plastic eyes and its cute button nose. Her eyes were wide with excitement and glee as she looked at it. It's fur was the softest thing she had ever felt. She cuddled it tightly against her body and closed her eyes, feeling the fur against her cheek. She loved it to bits already.

"Wow, I didn't realise how big that teddy was. It's almost as tall as me and you." Mike laughed. El fluttered her eyes open once again and focused her big brown eyes on his. This was one of the best nights of her life.

 _No_.

It is _the_ best night of her life, she thought to herself.

The smell of sweet food filled her lungs and she felt like she could almost taste it. The rainbow flashing lights made everything around her seem more beautiful than normal. The upbeat music and the laughing people in the background made her feel a joyous energy. But best of all, she was experiencing this all with her favourite person in the whole world. There was nowhere she'd rather be.

She clung onto her teddy and took a step forward towards Mike. His eyes watched her so lovingly, and El knew she had never known anyone to care for her as much as he did. She stood on her tippy-toes, closed her eyes and kissed Mike sweetly on the cheek. She also knew that she had never cared about anyone as much as she cared about him.

 _She loved him_.

She took a step back with her eyelids fluttering open once again and never let her gaze leave his. He reached a hand up to where she had kissed him and he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest.

This was the best night of _his_ life. He gazed into El's dazzling brown eyes with a strong feeling of affection pumping through his veins. She made his whole body feel like it was buzzing, made his head feel like it was spinning and like the world had stopped moving. And right now, with her eyelashes batting at him and her dimples showing clearer than ever in the bright lights, he knew he'd never felt so complete. She made his heart feel whole.

 _He loved her_.

Mike wanted to stay in this moment forever, feeling the ghost of El's lips on his cheek with her gorgeous eyes locked onto his, but he remembered this was still her first time at the fair and she had a lot yet to experience.

"C'mon pretty. There's something I want you to try." He told El, offering her his hand once more. She moved the teddy, which she had decided to name Eggo, under one of her arms rather than holding them in both and hugged it tightly to her side. She then took Mike's hand.

They strolled down the bunting path and passed lots of different stools and rides. There were slower more childlike rides, like the teacups that span round and round, and some that intimidated El. Those were the really tall ones that sometimes went upside down. Nevertheless, not once did the smile fall from her face. She looked like a kid waking up on Christmas morning, and Mike wanted to take a photo so he could remember the look she had on her face right now forever.

El noticed the smell of food getting stronger as they walked and she sniffed the air.

"It smells good." She said as she blinked at Mike, who was now leading them to the small hut.

"Trust me, you'll love this almost as much as eggos." El did trust him, and therefore had never been so excited to try something in her life. Before she knew it Mike was handing her a stick with some pink, white and blue fluffy stuff on it. It looked like a cloud. _This must be candy floss_ El realised as she thought back to their conversation earlier that day. Her hands were full so she couldn't hold Mike's hand now. Instead he wrapped an arm around her and led her to the nearest bench that was free, so she could put down Eggo and try the candy floss he had bought her.

El put Eggo on the edge of the bench and sat sideways so she was facing Mike. He nodded at her, a way to tell her to go for it and try some. She didn't realise it would be easier to rip a small section off and place it in her mouth and ended up biting straight into it. Her face was buried in candy floss for a second. It was sticky and sweet in her mouth, and it melted just like Mike had said. It was a strange sensation but she liked it. Besides, the taste was _amazing_ she thought. After she finished her first mouthful she looked at Mike with her eyebrows raised in astonishment as though she couldn't believe it tasted so good.

"Nice?" Mike asked, chuckling as he ripped off small parts of his own candy floss and placed it into his mouth. El nodded at him rapidly, licking the excess sugar off her lips. Then she dove back into it again as though it was the first thing she'd eaten in months. Mike was pleased, he knew she'd love it.

She sucked the last bits of candy floss off the stick and looked at Mike, who she'd just realised she'd been paying no attention to for the last 3 minutes. She looked up at him with a giddy smile and he was looking at her with a fond grin on his face. She could tell he'd been watching her the whole time.

"Thank you Mike. It was good." She said as she jerked her head towards the plastic stick that had been covered in candy floss just a few minutes ago. She licked her smiling lips again.

"No problem El. So, what do you wanna do next? It's your choice this time." He asked her, taking her plastic stick and throwing it in the bin next to him along with his own. He looked back and El was pointing up at the Ferris Wheel behind them.

"That?" she suggested with her eyebrows raised in question at Mike.

"Sure! I love the Ferris Wheel. It's not too fast either so it's a good ride to start with." he explained with excitement filling his voice. He jumped up from his seat and El stood from the bench shortly after. Mike was looking around and taking the rest of the fair in before he turned his focus back to El. She saw him begin to smirk as he looked down to her lips.

"What?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Then a second later Mike was stepping into her personal space and she could feel his breath against her cheek. It made her heart race. It also reminded her of the few times Mike had kissed her before. _Is he about to again?_ She thought. He reached a hand up and rubbed at the corner of her lips gently with his thumb.

"You had some sugar left on your face." He told her softly along with a chuckle and El let out a small breath blushing. He smiled at her like she was the cutest thing in the world. She was to him.

"It's gone now." He nodded at her reassuringly, but he let his thumb rest by the corner of her mouth a little longer. A few seconds passed before he slid his hand under her chin and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He stepped back slowly with that sweet smile of his. El's heart was dancing right now.

He stood there admiring the beautiful dazed look on her face for a bit longer before picking up Eggo from the bench for El. She beamed and slid her arm through his as she rested her head on his shoulder once again. They watched all the flashing multi-coloured lights as they passed them by and El could faintly hear that ' _Footloose_ ' song that Nancy loved so much playing in the background.

They reached the cue for the ride. It was fairly big, but neither of them minded waiting. They enjoyed each others company and El was still mesmerised by her surroundings. Mike pointed things out to her as they waited and El would be intrigued by everything. Then again, she always thought things were more interesting and cool when Mike said it.

Before they knew it they were right at the front of the cue. After kindly asking the ticket man to keep hold of Eggo while they were on the ride, Mike handed over the money and hopped into the carriage while making sure El followed safely behind him. They took their seats and the seatbelt went down.

It didn't take long for the ride to suddenly ascend up into the air. At first El was a little frightened, breathing heavily and looking at the people below, but Mike pulled her close to him and stroked her shoulder comfortingly. It calmed her nerves and luckily, this particular ferris wheel was quite slow.

They reached about halfway up, and El noticed she could see almost all of Hawkins from up here. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes went wide. However, Mike had seen the view of Hawkins from the Ferris Wheel before and was much more interested in the view right next to him. _El._

He loved how perfect she looked right now with the wind in her hair and wonder filling her eyes. He loved how unbelievably adorable she had been tonight, like with the candy floss and the teddy. He couldn't believe how much he wanted to kiss her right now, and not just a quick peck on the lips, a kiss that would show how much he really cared about her.

He wanted to tell her, right now, that he loved her with all of his heart.

He'd never told her before, and she'd never told him. Maybe it didn't need to be said. Deep down they both knew it was true. However, Mike wanted to tell her anyway. He wanted El to hear it coming from his lips. He couldn't think of a more perfect time than now.

"El?"

She turned to look at Mike, her hair blowing lightly in her face. He could hear ' _True_ ' by Spandau Ballet begin playing faintly in the background behind the sound of laughing people, arcade noises, mechanics of the ride and the soft howling of the wind and he couldn't help but think it made this moment more perfect.

She locked eyes with his and brushed a lock of short hair that was blowing in her face behind her ear.

"Yes?" She asked sweetly with her dimples brightening up her face. Mike's heart was beating so fast and his breath almost hitched in his throat. _Why am I so nervous?_ He thought as he swallowed hard.

"El...I'm in love with you."

El's eyes grew large and her lips parted. She knew how much of an important statement it was and how much meaning was behind it. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. The girl who once had nobody to love and nobody to be loved by. She knew all along deep down that they were in love. However, hearing it out loud felt surreal.

Almost a whole minute passed by and El had not said a word. The ferris wheel was halfway through it's third cycle and she was just staring at him in shock. He was panicking and starting to think maybe he had spoke too soon. Maybe he scared El with such a meaningful statement. His breathing became heavy and he was on the brink of apologising, until suddenly he noticed a broad smile start to spread across her face and tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"I'm in love with you too Mike."

A rush of happiness filled his heart. He felt like screaming from the rooftops he was so happy. He couldn't stop grinning at her and she couldn't stop smiling. Neither of them had ever felt so happy. Mike wiped away the stay happy tear that rolled down El's cheek, and leaned towards her so their foreheads were touching. This truly was the best night of their lives.

The ride was coming to an end, and both El and Mike felt like they were on cloud 9 as they stepped out of the carriage.

"Here ya go kids." The older man at the ticket kiosk said as he handed them Eggo. Somehow El had almost forgotten about it, her mind was still fuzzy from what had just happened. It made her feel even happier as she took him back, if that was possible.

"Woah sis! How did you get that!?" El heard a familiar voice shout to her right. It was Jonathan. He was holding his camera in one hand and holding Nancy's hand in the other. He must've gone back to the car to get the camera.

Mike put an arm around El. "She won it at the ring-toss game over there." Mike pointed in the general direction then looked back at them,"Completely fairly of course." He stated in a sarcastic but playful tone. El couldn't help but smirk a little before looking down at Eggo and running her fingers lightly through it's soft fur.

"Yeah, I'm sure she did." Jonathan said chuckling along with Mike. Nancy wasn't joining in with their conversation. She was too busy admiring El snuggled up to Mike, wearing his jacket and also cuddling the toy bear, thinking it was the most adorable thing she had ever witnessed. "Me and Nance were hoping to bump into you." Jonathan looked to Nancy with a smirk on his face to see if she would laugh at his pun. She smirked and shook her head.

"That was the worst pun I've ever heard." She told him despite the fact she couldn't keep the amused tone from her voice. She turned back to Mike and El. "What Jonathan is trying to say is that he'd like you to go on the bumper cars with us. It'll be fun having someone we know to bump. Besides you owe me, remember?" She raised an eyebrow at him with a big smile on her face.

Mike was about to say yes, until he felt El's hair brush against his cheek and remembered he promised to protect her. Would she really feel safe or enjoy getting bumped into with the possibility of ending up having a few small bruises? _No_. Mike wasn't willing to take that risk. He wanted her to look back on this night and think it was perfect.

"We can't. I don't want El getting scared from the people trying to bash her. She might end up getting hurt, it's not a risk I'm willing to take." He tightened his arm around El. Jonathan smirked.

"Mike, you're worried about Eleven getting scared or hurt? She killed the monster that took Will, I'm sure it'll take a lot more than some bumper cars to scare her, buddy." Jonathan assured him, "Besides, if she really felt threatened she'd be able to handle herself."

"Jonathan's right. C'mon it'll be fun. For both of you!" Nancy explained, trying to win Mike over.

Mike glanced back down to El who was looking up at him from his shoulder.

"It's okay Mike. I want to go on the bumpy cars." El said, accidently pronouncing bumper cars wrong. It only made Mike think she was cuter, and he grinned at her before brushing a small lock of hair behind her ear.

Nancy let go of Jonathan's hand and clapped her hands together in excitement as she practically jumped up and down.

"Great, let's go!" She swiveled around in a quick movement and headed for the bumper cars as fast as she could, leaving them all to follow behind.

Jonathan smirked and turned to El and Mike who were snuggled together along with Eggo as they walked. "I've never seen your sister this excited about anything." He looked ahead again and watched Nancy waiting by the ticket kiosk by the bumper cars with affection in his eyes. He was lovestruck. _They all were._

They approached Nancy who had already paid for hers and Jonathan's bumper car.

"May the best couple win." She teased as she playfully winked at Mike and El, taking hold of Jonathan's hand and leading them to their bumper car. El looked nonplussed. She didn't understand the concept of this contest. What were they doing, driving around and bumping each other? How did they win that?

Mike bought the tickets for their go and once again asked the ticket person to look after Eggo. They happily obliged and once they'd taken him, Mike led El to their car. El got in first and just so happened to land in the drivers seat.

"Oh...El, are you sure you want to drive the car?" He asked her, perhaps with a little worry entering his tone. He trusted her, but he wanted her feel safe. El frowned a little and twisted her lips as if she was contemplating her decision before she landed on an answer. She nodded her head eagerly at Mike and patted the seat next to her for him to sit down. He kissed her on the cheek once he did, and it made El feel tingly inside.

They both put their seat belts on and Mike explained the simple controls to El. After that, they were just waiting for the last few people to take up the leftover cars. El looked up and spotted Nancy and Jonathan in the top left corner, they were playfully giving them daggers as if to say _"The game is on!"_ and El was amused. However, a sigh to her right brought her attention back to Mike.

"Mike, what's wrong?" El asked him sincerely. He didn't say anything, but she followed his eyes and realised the problem as soon as they landed on the figure that was stepping into the car to their far right. It was Troy. With his mum.

"Mouth breather." El stated under her breath. She was now angry, remembering all those times she had seen Mike with cuts and bruises on his body when she went round his, the bad things him and his friend had said about Will when he was stuck in the upside down, and that time he'd almost removed Dustin's teeth with a knife and made Mike jump off the cliff.

She hated Troy.

The buzzer went off, and the game started. El had completely forgotten about Nancy and Jonathan. She wanted to go after Troy.

El began to accelerate as fast as she could towards them. She was a bit wobbly at first but she got the hang of it and soon enough, she'd gotten her first bump in. It made Troy whine like a little baby to his mum, and Mike laughed hard beside her. She looked at him and smiled, forgetting what she was doing for a second.

That's when Nancy and Jonathan had decided to creep up behind them and bashed into them. It took both of them by surprise as they jolted forward. El was shocked and was panting a little, but soon recovered and began smiling. She started speeding up once more. She could get her own back.

They were now tailing Nancy and Jonathan, and Nancy was shouting for Jonathan to drive faster with laughter filling the spaces between each word.

"Go on El, you can get them!" Mike cheered her on and that's when she bashed into them. They all laughed and Mike applauded her. Until they noticed Troy was oncoming in the opposite direction and hit them head on.

 _Why did he have to ruin everything?_

El had had enough and she knew what she must do to put an end to this. She drove once again full speed heading to the rear of Troy's car, bumping a couple of other cars out of her way as she did so, and hit them once again. Troy and his mum jolted forward and he looked like he was about to scream or cry while his mum shouted at him for forcing her on there. Before he could begin driving again, El used her powers to make their cable snap so their car wasn't able to work. Mike looked at her in astonishment.

"Way to go El! That was amazing, you're amazing!" He praised her. His joy in that moment didn't last long though as concern began to flood through him. He wiped at El's bleeding nose with his sweater sleeve, not caring that the blood would be on his clothes.

They were driving slowly, so that Mike could tend to her nose, but luckily nobody chose to bash them I'm that moment. It had finally stopped bleeding.

Suddenly, the 10 second countdown began to tick and El was determined to bump into Nancy and Jonathan one more time. She pushed aside the pain and locked eyes with Jonathan who was grinning. They both began to head towards each other. In the end their cars met in the middle and hit each other with the same amount of power as the buzzer went off. It was a draw. They were all happy enough with that.

They all stepped out from the bumper cars cage, El grabbing Eggo from the ticket man once again and making her way back to Mike. _What to do now?_ He thought, he feeling El's face nestle against his shoulder and looked around. Most of these rides were too scary for him, let alone El. There was no way he would go into the House of Horrors either. Not without Lucas, Will and Dustin by their side as well.

Just then, fireworks started going off in the sky and _'Dancing in the Dark'_ by Bruce Springsteen began playing over the speakers. A loud female voice began speaking over the top.

"We hope everyone's enjoying the last night of the Hawkins fair! Here's a fantastic firework display to celebrate the fantastic past three days coming to an end. Make the most of the night people, and stay safe!" She cheered through the speakers.

Bright colours burst and filled the sky with loud bangs, and Mike heard El gasp beside him almost everytime. He watched the reflection of the fireworks light up her face and her glossy eyes, it made him want to hug her tightly and never let go. _How could someone so innocent have gone through such a trauma?_ It broke his heart and he felt like the luckiest person in the world to have her here with him now, safe and happy. Mike heard the click and whir of Jonathan camera behind them. Jonathan captured the perfect moment of Mike admiring El with her leaning on his shoulder, silhouetted by the brightness of the magical red and gold fireworks filling the sky above them. Now, they would remember this night forever and Mike couldn't wait for Jonathan to develop the photo.

The display went on for another 5 minutes and everyone clapped or cheered. It was reaching 9:30, so they had half an hour left to do what they wanted. Jonathan offered to take Eggo back to thr car with his camera so El and Mike could go on rides without the hassle, and although El didnt want Eggo to go she agreed. Nancy and Jonathan went their separate ways shortly after, and once again Mike and El were left alone.

Mike wanted to make sure she went on at least two more rides, even if they were for toddlers. He would make sure they played a couple more games too.

He took her over to the teacups first and they both loved it. Before El Mike had found the teacups boring, but as she gripped onto his arm tightly and giggled loudly next to him he found that he loved it. Her laugh was music to his ears, and he laughed along with her.

Next they went over to the hook-a-duck stool. He and El won, partly due to her powers once again. They ended up with a toy dinosaur as a prize. It was similar to Mike's toy dinosaur Rory and El was happy that now they could play with the dinosaur's together. When she found out she didn't get to keep the duck though, she was a little disappointed. She told Mike why she was sad, because friends don't lie, and he promised her he would buy her a rubber duck another time with an adorable smile on his face. She hugged him tightly.

"I love you Mike."

Mike felt dizzy with happiness hearing those words once again. He ran his fingers through her beautiful brown hair.

"More than eggos?" He chuckled, and El looked up into his big brown eyes.

"More than eggos." She stated, a smile appearing on her face again after Mike kissed her on the forehead.

He realised El was stuck holding a prize once again, and although he could offer to hold the dinosaur for her and hold her hand once more, he had a much better idea. He turned his back towards El and squatted a little bit, "Hop on."

El was confused as she stared at Mike standing in the strange position right in front of her. _What does he mean by hop on?_ She thought. He had said it before when he asked her to get on his bike, but this was different.

After a few seconds of waiting, Mike turned around to El who was looking at him with her eyebrow quirked. He smirked a little.

"Uh...How do I explain this." Mike bit his lip a little as he thought about how to explain. He then took the dinosaur from El and did a mini demonstration.

"Okay, imagine your hand is me and the dinosaur is you." El still looked confused, but nodded.

"So, I'd have my back facing you and I'll squat down a little like I was just a minute ago." Mike told her. She looked to her hand to see how she could make it look like Mike squattting when Mike placed a hand on it. "Don't worry, you don't have to do that part." He chuckled a little, "Anyways, then you will sorta jump onto my back and I'll have my arms out to catch your legs." He held on to El's hand so it was face down and pretended the dinosaur had jumped onto it. The demonstration didn't really go well, but it was worth a try. Plus, he never got fed up of holding El's hand.

"Uh, hopefully you kinda get what I mean, do you think we could try it?"

"Okay." She answered, before nodding eagerly.

Mike tucked the dinosaur underneath his chin while El jumped on. It took a few failed attempts with a lot of chuckling on Mike's part and a lot of determination on El's. Once they had achieved it, El wrapped her arms around Mike's neck, taking the dinosaur in her hands and rested her face by his. He could feel El's heart beating hard and fast against his back and it warmed his heart to know her heart raced just as much as his did when they were close.

He began heading towards the carousel, holding onto El tightly so she wouldn't slide down his back. He felt her dimple against his cheek and knew she had begun to smile. He loved it when she smiled, but he loved it even more when she laughed. He started to run and El let out a surprised squeal and began laughing. He felt happy butterflies in his stomach.

They had reached the carousel shortly after and Mike let El down carefully, a little out of breath. El was watching the horses on the carousel in amazement, and naturally gravitated towards it to watch it a little closer. She still found everything at the fair amazing, and she felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be there. _With Mike._

The golden lights from the carousel made her look like she was glowing. Mike felt like his heart would burst from how full of affection it was. He approached her from behind and wrapped his around her. El's breath hitched, unaware it was him at first and turned around in his arms to face him instantly. Relief washed over her when she was face to face with Mike's grin and she let out the breath she had been holding.

"You look like a princess." He practically whispered as he was so close.

El felt incredibly moved. She'd always wanted to be a princess. She heard about them in the fairytales. They were always beautiful, kind, happy and they always ended up with the prince. Mike was _her_ prince. She blushed and smiled down at the ground. Mike tucked his hand under her chin and lifted it up so he could lock eyes with hers once again. He licked his lips and began breathing heavily. El could sense what was about to happen and her mind was going fuzzy.

He leaned in slowly, and El leaned in too as she watched his face leaning towards hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as his lips pressed against her own. It wasn't like the other times when Mike had kissed her. Before they were short and sweet, and although they made El's heart race like crazy, this kiss made her heart feel like it would beat out of her chest. It was slow and tender, and it made the world fall away. It showed her how much he loved her in ways that words never could, and it felt the same for him. His hand traveled from El's back to her cheek, and he cradled her face delicately as he pulled away slowly, only by a few centimetres. Neither of them opened their eyes straight away, still stuck in a trance. However, when they did their glossy brown eyes locked on to each other and El pressed her forehead to Mike's.

She had never felt so happy or so loved. It made her emotional, and she couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Hey...Don't cry." He whispered, wiping away the tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm just..." she sniffed and smiled "...I'm so happy."

Seeing El like this almost made him want to cry himself. They stayed there for a while, forehead to forehead with Mike's hand holding El's face. She hadn't realised she'd dropped the dinosaur when they had kissed.

"I think we still have time for one more ride" he told her, taking a small step back and clasping his and El's hands together. He bent down a little to pick up the dinosaur with the other, a grin on his face. El still felt giddy, and a little dizzy from that life changing kiss they had just shared. She wanted to feel the way she felt just then forever and she truly believed she would be able to. _Mike will be my prince forever_ she thought to herself, smiling.

He had bought both their tickets and helped El up onto the horse he chose for them. She sat at the back of the horse and Mike sat at the front. A pole to hold onto separated them slightly, so he leaned against it so El would still be able to hold onto him when the ride started. A gasp escaped her lips as the ride started just like it had with the other rides, and she was smiling once again. The ride didn't last long, but they enjoyed it while it lasted. They both felt like they were in a dream as the slowly turned round and round, El resting her head on Mike's shoulder blade. This night felt too good to be true, and yet it was.

Once the carousel slowed down, Mike helped El jump down from the horse and wrapped an arm around her, holding on tightly to the dinosaur in the hand of his other. They stepped out of the shelter from the carousel and it had begun to rain while they were on the ride. They were too distracted by each other to notice while they were on there.

Mike frowned and looked up to the sky. There were no longer stars in sight, they were covered by rain clouds.

He turned to look at El, who was looking at the sky like he was just a moment ago. However, unlike Mike she wasn't frowning. She was smiling.

The rain on her face was cool and refreshing, and it reminded her that this night wasn't just a dream. It was real and it was amazing. Nothing could compare. Her past seemed like a lifetime ago now that she was here.

She looked back down to face Mike with a smile still on her face, and his frown completely dissolved. He began smiling at her again as the raindrops fell down his face and torso and watched them trickle down El's face too. The gold lights reflected on the raindrops that fell down her face as people ran past them laughing looking for shelter and Mike thought she looked absolutely stunning. Then again, he always did.

"It must be time to start heading back to the car." He admitted to El, a small disappointed pout reaching his lips.

That was when the smile started to fall from her face.

"But..." she huffed through her nose as she looked between his gleaming eyes and swallowed hard, "...I don't want this night to end."

A sad expression completely took over her face now and Mike's heart broke a little everytime he saw her looking that way. He didn't want her to feel sad, not after the amazing night they've shared together.

"Don't be sad El. I know tonight was amazing...but it can't last forever." The end of his sentence came out quiet and sad, but he worked up a smile again to make El feel better. "We'll come back next year when the fair is here again." He told her sincerely. She looked up at him, some of the sadness leaving her features.

"Promise?"

He smirked, gazing at her beautiful face for a few seconds before leaning in to kiss her again. It was a little slippery from the rain, but it was still perfect. Warmth spread through their bodies and their lips locked like they were meant for each other. It felt magical and neither of them ever wanted to part.

He pulled away and he found it hard to get the air back into his lungs. Kissing El was breathtaking. She stared deeply into his dazzling eyes with affection, feeling the ghost of Mike's lips on hers. It was a feeling she would never get used to and always cherish.

"Promise."

 ** _A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed the story, I'm sorry if it's too full of fluff. I know it's not the best but hey-ho._**

 ** _Lots of love. Votes and comments would be greatly appreciated and let me know if you'd like me to write anything else! This is my first fanfic._**

 ** _(Btw, I couldn't remember if it was called cotton candy or candy floss in America but hopefully you know what I meant)_**

 ** _•Instagram:_**

 ** _\- finn_wolfhard_fan_xoxo_**


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